The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that provides mail delivery and other services to the public. The USPS is widely recognized as a safe and reliable means for sending and receiving mail and other items. With the advent and steady growth of electronic mail and electronic commerce, the physical mail stream will increasingly be utilized for sending and receiving packages. In the context of electronic commerce, an item sender may desire, for example, to receive corrected delivery address data.
Therefore, the need to efficiently provide corrected delivery address data remotely has become a common need for the United States Postal Service and many other organizations. More specifically, efficiently providing corrected delivery address data limited to only those recipients to whom the sender has an interest has become a critical service for many delivery system operators. This is because in an increasingly competitive environment, meeting and exceeding the expectations of those who receive a service is essential for a service provider.
One solution, for example, to the corrected delivery address data problem is for the item delivery system operator to allow an item sender access to the item delivery system's address database. In this situation, the sender would have unfettered access to all data, even data unrelated to a recipient that the sender wishes to send an item. This solution would at least have the potential of breaching the privacy of those listed in the item delivery system's address database.
Great inefficiencies are created in this procedure because, for example, providing corrected delivery address data limited only to data that the sender has an interest in sending an item is not possible. Accordingly, efficiently providing corrected delivery address data remains an elusive goal. Thus, there remains a need for efficiently providing corrected delivery address data. In addition, there remains a need for efficiently providing corrected delivery address data for a recipient that the sender has a direct interest in sending an item.